Oregon Trail - Laser Cast 147gr

[AgentAdam]

Has anyone ever loaded 147g Oregon Trail - Laser Cast bullets in 9mm? These bullets have a rather fat nose and i had to turn the 124g RN ones down to 1.050 OAL to chamber in a match grade barrel. I could have probably gotten away with 1.12-1.13 OAL in a regular barrel. It seem allot of people have to seat them at 1.10 which is under max OAL recommendation.

I don't know if i should go with the 145g RN or the 147g FP. I think the FP would cause more meat damage if i ever had to shoot anything but it seems like i would have to seat them even further than the RN but since there is less of a nose it would actually not be as far in the case as it seems.

Has anyone tried either of these and can recommend an OAL?

http://www.laser-cast.com/9mm.html

 

[Mal H]

I don't load the 147 FP, but I do have the Laser-Cast Reloading Manual. They recommend an OAL of 1.155" for that particular bullet, and 1.130 for the 124 gr RN.

Sometimes you do need to decrease the OAL of a round due to the particulars of a barrel, but you should always do it with caution. Start at the min powder load and work up if you are way below the suggested OAL.

L-C lists several powders for those bullets, which one are you using? If you want their min/max loads, I would be glad to post them.

 

[AgentAdam]

I have Bullseye,Unique,and Herco on hand. I might pick up some winchester or others after this first batch. If you could list the data for these Alliant powders i would appreciate it. What is the recommended OAL for the 145 RN. I should probably go with those for better feeding but my glocks/berettas will eat anything. The FMJ and HP winchester 147g has a similar truncated cone shape as the laser cast FP.

 

[Mal H]

For the 147 gr FP the only Alliant powder they list is Unique:
3.4 gr min ; 4.2 gr max

They also list AA5, AA7, and Win Action Pistol (WAP).

My L-C reloading manual doesn't have data for the 145 gr RN. I think that one came along later and replaced the 135 gr RN which it does have data for, but which is not sold any longer. The Unique load data above would be the same for the 145 gr RN; 2 grains difference is not enough to have a large variation in load data.

It might be a good idea to email them, as they suggest, and ask for loading data on the 147 and 145 with the powders you have.

 

[AgentAdam]

Is there anything under Win #231 or PowerPistol? Are the 145RN and 147FP listed as the same OAl?

 

[Mal H]

They only list the powders I mentioned for the 147. Again, my book doesn't have data for the 145, but I would think the OAL would be very close to the same as the 147.

 

[threefeathers]

Yes, this is an absolutely superior hard cast lead bullet. It shoots fine from my H K's. I plan to get another 1K of it very soon.

 

[Jim Watson]

I like the 145 gr RN, having seen a couple of guns that would not feed the 147 gr FP reliably. I have seated it as long as 1.60" and as short as 1.40"; loads are moderate, all I need is about 880 fps.